Child Evangelism Fellowship’s (CEF) 17th annual Family Fun Fair wrapped up Saturday afternoon at LSSU's Student Activity Center with just under 900 children and adults attending. This comes one day after a snow storm dumped nearly a foot on Sault Ste. Marie with people still digging out Saturday morning.
Last year's event drew in around 1,000 people.
The free two-and-a-half hour event was filled with a couple dozen games, bouncy houses, free popcorn and cotton candy, along with door prizes at the end of the day.
More importantly, according to organizer Daniel Hamel, is teaching children about Jesus and God for those children that do not attend church.
"At CEF, we are reaching kids with the gospel so they can one day live with God in heaven and understand their need for salvation because we were all born with sin and to teach them what Jesus did for us on the cross. This Family Fun Fair is to share the gospel when the first come in and also at the end of the event, as well. The door prizes are here to help them to come. The candy is here to help them to come, but the idea is to share the gospel. We are reaching a lot of families that are here that are not in church. The idea is to see them come to church. We have three or four churches from the area here volunteering their time and services," Hamel said.
Speaking of volunteers, this event could not be run without them.
"We have a lot of volunteer teams consisting of around 45 people that make this work," Hamel said.
Friends Emma and Mila came to the event.
"It was fun hanging out with my friends and church friends and play the games," the 11-year-old Emma said.
"I also liked seeing my friends, playing the games and going into the bouncy houses. I really liked getting my face painted," the 10-and-a-half year-old Mila said.
Pastor Jeff Middlestead from Sault E-free Church had a booth set up with several volunteers handing out church information, putting temporary tattoos on children and handing out door prizes.
"We want to always support the community and we believe there are other ministries within the community that are important too. We also want to inform people about E-free Church and that we are kid-friendly and are very welcoming and want to meet as many people as possible. If kids develop an interest in faith and going to church, they are going to bring their parents," Middlestead explained.
Billy Martini has been senior pastor at Brimley Baptist Church for nearly five years now after moving from Baltimore, MD. They, too, had a booth where Maritini's son, Bo, made and handed out balloon hats.
"This is huge because, as a little kid, this is how I first learned about the Lord Jesus and what he did on the cross for us through something similar like this event. Here's the the thing, we can't make our children grow up and do the right things but we can predispose them to the right things so when they grow up and have the choice, they have to choose to make on their own," Maritini said.
